base and two in the joker valve housing,
slacken the hose clips and off it comes to
reveal the valves.
I found a small amount of scaling, but
more important was the fact that the joker
valve’s lips did not shut properly – and
there is a depression in the flap valve that
corresponds with the lip on the base of
the pump that is supposed to be the seal.
The flap was distorted – and that’s why
water was syphoning back into the pump.
So from my experiences with my
pumps I have learned the cure is to
change the flap valves and clean up the
interiors of the pumps. A kit can be bought
for just over £20 from Jabsco Direct, or the
flap valve can be bought alone for about
£6. My advice? Buy the kit and change as
much as you can while it is stripped down.
ABOVE Complete Jabsco service kit
LEFT Take care when reinstalling ‘quick
thread’ screws so as not to strip the holesWith the pump apart, I cleaned up all
the scale with vinegar and elbow grease
and used scotch pads to clean up the
plastic housings. Once all traces of scale
were gone, the pump could be
reassembled and the new valves could be
put on. It’s obvious how to install them as
both the flap valve and the joker valve can
only be installed one way.
When screwing everything back
together, be aware that the stainless
screws are twin threaded self-tappers and
have ‘quick’ threads. Put them in their
place and hand twist them backwards
until you feel a slight click. This makes
sure they are engaged in the original
threads in the soft plastic housings. If you
get it wrong they cut another thread which
will then strip as you tighten it!ABOVE Ensure stop
cocks are off before
taking your loo apart
RIGHT & BELOW
Cleaning scale from
the pump assembly
PRACTICAL
Mending and
improving the seatMy toilet is nearly 19 years old and
the lid and seat were getting tatty.
They are only held on by two 8mm
plastic screws and a wing nut, so I
removed them, rubbed them down
with 80 grit abrasive paper and used
a rattle can of matt white enamel paint
to refurbish them.
The hinges are attached with plain
steel screws – which had rusted. I
had to drill them out and replace with
stainless steel, which took far more
time than it should have done.
By the time I’d managed to remove
the old screws, the holes were pretty
shot, so I used Araldite to fill the holes
as I was putting the stainless screws
in. I just nipped them up until the
Araldite had gone off then tightened
them a touch more.
After putting everything back
together, the seat looks like new, and
best of all, the new set of seals has
cured the siphoning problem.Respray tidies up toilet seatRusted hinge screws
had to be drilled out..
leaving oversize holes
which Stu filled with
epoxy before replacing
with new stainless steel screwsSeat hinges were worse for wear